Reviews

I watched several episodes of The Big Bang Theory and found it to be mildly irreverent but funny. So I thought Young Sheldon would be more of the same humor. After watching the first episode, where the disrespect for religion far surpassed anything seen on TBBT, I decided it was not for me.

When I found out there would be a series finale with the older Sheldon and Amy reprising their roles, I thought I would give it a look. Sadly, it was more of the same. As someone posted in their review (When a Comedy Loses its Humor), Sheldon was never a likable character. Incredibly narcissistic and irreverent to the end! Endless jokes and jabs about the Bible, church and his mother's beliefs made up a considerable amount of the dialogue. I imagine most people reading this will think, Oh get over it. Let me pose this thought: What if he had been born into a Muslim family - would the series have taken cheap shots at Muhammad, the Quoran, and Islam? I think not. So why was Christianity fair game? If you have an ounce of respect for other peoples' religion - skip this series.

I love a good mystery and throw in a little science fiction and I'm intrigued. First let me address the mechanics - it is a German mini-series but I highly recommend leaving it in German and viewing the English subtitles. Disclaimer - I speak a little German but not enough to watch without subtitles. My recommendation is due to the fact that quite a bit of it is in English since it deals with an international cast of characters. Also, you don't experience the annoying out-of-sync lip movements and you do get to hear the real voices with authentic emotions.

Finally, the content; I won't repeat what has already been written and although I'm tempted, I won't give a spoiler to the ending. However, I will end with this admonition: In my opinion, it is very anti-climatic and leaves you with more questions than answers. To invest this much time watching it only to have the fireworks show fizzle out, was frustrating to me. Is it a good ending? Kind of. Disappointing? To all but the most altruistic, Yes.

Admittedly, I wasn't all that impressed when watching this movie the first time. Then after subsequent viewings, I began to realize its subtle genius. Great lineup of actors and Paul Giamatti is brilliant as a neurotic but optimistic Santa Claus. Great performances from several characters including Kathy Bates, Chris Ludicrous, Kevin Spacey (good acting isn't an endorsement of his personal life), Elizabeth Banks, and a few others. Vince Vaughn is, well; always Vince Vaughn. But his fast talking monotone style works here. And I love the North Pole village and toy shop - this was before AI and massive use of CGI backgrounds so it is alive with color, realism, and light. Great ending and life lessons for several characters. Watch it again!

I was hoping for some Christmas magic from a family friendly (PG) film with a master comedian - Mr. Eddie Murphy. About 15 -20 minutes into the movie they visit a magic Christmas decorations store. The elf in charge wants to make sure the Eddie Murphy character knows the true meaning of Christmas. He responds with (my paraphrase) Giving, the heart of a child, and loving your neighbor (or something similar.) The elf doesn't respond and Eddie's character says: Or I can go the religious route? The elf responds, "Jesus Christ, no." Excuse me - isn't that the reason we have this holiday? I shut if off immediately. What a blatant slap in the face to millions of Christians in America! Hollywood has once again shown their true colors. Skip this one unless you're an atheist or of another religion.

I'm confused - was this for children? Because the acting is so cheesey, and the monsters so preposterous, it looks like the Might Morphin Power Rangers. And, we seem to have skipped a Shazam movie because there is just too much back story missing between the first Shazamand this one.

I've only left 2 superhero movies thus far: the new Batman - way too brutal and not at all in keeping with Batman's nobility, and Thor 3 - also cheesey but I think they were just as focused on showing Marvel Pride support as putting out a good movie.

Anyway, this one is just; well - goofy. (By the way: I get it, they are really kids. But isn't that the same story as MMPR?) Final Verdict: Save this one for your tweens.

How do you take one of the world's most successful game franchises and make it into a loser tv series? It wasn't the acting (which was very good including an excellent cast) nor was it the decent special effects and story lines. You toss it out the window by having a very unhappy ending with several unanswered questions; aka cliff hangers. Do not invest your time if you are expecting everything to be copacetic at the end!

By the way: Am I the only one who thought the Soren character was Dave Chappell?

I'm a fan of most M. Night Shyamalan movies so I was eager to see this one. What a waste of time. It is some of the worst acting I've ever seen. Do NOT bother with this one. I fast forwarded to it after losing 1 hour of my life on the first half, I kept thinking: Surely it will get better! It did not. You've been warned.

DC has been slowly turning to the dark side for the past 2 decades; trying desperately to keep up with Marvel. Their solution? Go Woke and Dark to draw in the younger viewers; the heck with the Boomers!

Their movies have become more dark and depressing; I thought The Dark Knight was gloomy, this one makes it look like a cartoon. And speaking of cartoons - DC just released an animated Batman movie - with an R rating!

If you grew up thinking Adam West or Adam Keaton were the gold standards for the Batman - then you'll hate this one. Pattinson's Batman wears a cowl that he might have cut from an old leather coat, he can't sleep, and is so full of vengeance that he doesn't just knock criminals out, he beats them mercilessly even when they are down.l The rush to change the race of established characters and sometimes even their sexual preference shows how desperate they are to be known as the diversity company, But to make ultra-violent movies like the Joker and Suicide Squad - this might be paying off for them at the box office - but at the cost of quite a few souls.

Melissa McCarthy's two previous movies were stinkers. But we gave this one a shot. Other than her trademark foul mouth, it is mostly a family movie. However, be warned: there are some serious scenes about mental health and loss which might not be suitable for children.

Ms. McCarthy plays her part well and once again gets to stretch her acting legs - and she does it well. Subtle humor but it is mostly serious. A touching movie and well worth your time.

We "started" to watch this one because we have been fans of Melissa McCarthy. But after her last two (this one included), I'm starting to have doubts.

It is rude, crude, and disgusting. Will Ferrell and 12 year old boys would find it humorous; but not adults. Yes - I get that it's a spoof but it is still off-putting.

And, the obligatory nod to the LGBTQA community seemed forced and not integral to the story.

After about 20 minutes, we decided not to waste anymore time on this one. If you read this review, hopefully, you won't either.

I loved Lily James in "Yesterday" and once again, she stole the show. What wonderfully, talented actress. They were able to take a movie which was about an incredibly sad and tragic historical event and yet bring some happiness to it.

The acting here was superb! I'm not familiar with any of the actors but they were all first rate. The props, dress, cars and planes, were all period correct. And the island setting was wonderful.

I'm going to agree with another review and state that Philip Glenister's role of "The Baron" was excellent! I'm going to have to look up some of his other shows and films.

It was a bit graphic at times; mainly with female nudity and it would've been perfect (IMO) without them. But - the Brits have been doing full frontal nudity for decades; even on their tv shows.

After watching a few movies about the German occupation of the Channel Islands during WWII, I knew I had to watch this series. Spot on!

Netflix puts out so much trash that I was surprised to see a G rated film from them. (Were your regular writers all on vacation when this one was written?) This could've been a Hallmark movie. Warm, family friendly, and...a lovable dog! And - it's based on a true story!

Nice to watch something that doesn't pollute the mind. Keep it up, Netflix!

Well, I expected this out of Will Ferrell but NOT Rachel McAdams. Obviously, it is high-camp and not to be taken seriously. Might have worked if Ferrell could get over his obsession with the male reproductive organ. Those kind of jokes got stale quickly and I fast forwarded to the end. Don't waste your time.

If you are a fan of TNG and Voyager, you might not like this one. I watched the 1st season of Picard and they hinted, last episode, at the "twists" coming in the next season. Part way into the 3d episode of Season 2 out it came. Seven of Nine now likes girls. Star Trek canon: she was married to Chakotay? Forget it. Hollywood has to drag everything through it's own distorted reality and once again they've shown it. Skip this one. I canceled.

We watched this movie because of a family members recommendation and found it mostly charming. We ignored the over-use of profanity and raunchy comments and tried to enjoy it. The two main characters are very good in their roles and are not afraid to let their humanity and insecurities show.

The premise of not being interested in someone because they don't have runway model good-looks but then falling for them because of their personality - who they really are vs their appearance - is a valuable lesson in our vanity obsessed world. It held so much promise until the last scene.

I'll not spoil the ending but it left us with our jaws dropped in disgust and saying, "Why would they end it this way?" Newsflash to Hollywood: Profanity, especially the F word, is not acceptable and you can't make it cute.

Unless you have no scruples, avoid this movie.

We should've checked the rating - it is R for a reason. As fans of the "I Love Lucy" show we thought this would be entertaining and informative. And - it has star power. Wrong.

You quickly find out in the first 10 minutes it is raunchy, profane, and image busting. Modern Hollywood writers can't stand it that something that was G rated and family friendly AND successful - so they have to put their modern, gutter take on it. Yes, the Ricardos were not perfect people and we ALL have shortcomings but why take something so beloved and drag it though the manure? Ms. Kidman - are you that desperate for a paycheck?

The movie starts slow and you start to wonder what it has to do with Christmas. That question doesn't get answered until the last 10 minutes of the movie. And, there are too many unanswered questions; mainly about Elfhelm. Where did it come from? Why are there elves? What is their occupation and purpose?

Having said all that, it is a nice holiday movie. Probably not destined to be a classic, but certainly safe family viewing. Netflix offered it and I was seriously shocked that they even featured PG movies anymore!

So what do you do when you have an original movie - Christmas Chronicles 1 - and it is successful? Make a second one and follow the same formula, right? Well, the makers of this sequel decided that now that is is 2020, we need to make this version more woke than the original. You definitely succeeded - and made a movie that was more focused on that goal than being entertaining. I'm betting there won't be a third.

Special effects which stretch the boundaries of believability, cars which never get dented or scraped (if they belong to the good guys) and Fast & the Furious characters who never stay dead for long (or never die) - can't keep pretending that I like this. I loved it - past tense - but am starting to really dislike it. Only movie from this franchise which was worse was Hobbs and Shaw. But if they make an F10 - I may have to eat those words.

Yes- this is a show on a kids channel and geared towards them. And it's animated. But I still think it will be the best new Star Trek series since Enterprise ended. Why? Because it has something that all the technology in Discovery and Picard don't possess: A MORAL COMPASS. This show is more true to Gene's ideals and sense of decency. In all honesty, I've only seen the 1st episode but I'm believing that because it is for a younger audience, they aren't going to take a plunge into the black hole of depravity that pulled in the other, aforementioned series. Here's hoping. Live long and prosper, Prodigy.

This production had all the "hallmarks" (pardon the pun) of a great movie: Accomplished actors, time travel, and - Christmas. But it fell flat. Why? Hallmark seems to be loosing the magic spark needed to make their romance movies believable: CHEMISTRY. But the two main characters, Angie and Ben, did not have any. It wasn't for lack of script - in it they had history, had grown up together including school, and Ben was practically family. Which is what it felt like - Angie and Ben would've been more believable if they were brother and sister. Come on Hallmark, start brushing up on your on-screen relationship CONNECTIONS. Because this one, set partially on a passenger train, sure missed its biggest one.

It's too bad that imdb chose a negative reiew as their featured critique. We all have our opinions but calling it the worst thing they had ever watched is very harsh and hard to believe.

If you're a fan of superhero's and comic book adaptations, I think you'll like this mini-series which is only 8 episodes long. Unlike many series which get canceled, it does have a proper ending so you won't waste your time wondering what might've happened.

The inhumans are an under-utilized group in the Marvel universe but very similar to the mutants of X-men fame. The special effects and overall story arc are very well done - unfortunately the acting is not. In fact, that would be my guess as to why it was critically panned and not renewed by ABC. Two of the main characters are well acted - the Black Bolt and Maximus characters. Two are not well acted - the Karnak and Gorgon characters and I"m going to blame the writers because they are both played by accomplished actors. The one I can't figure out is the Medusa character - bad acting or bad writing? She is so poorly developed and yet has major screen time. Always either angry or weepy but in an overly dramatized and not a believable way.

Having said that, the show was still worth watching and held my attention until the end. Watch one episode and decide if it is worth your time. I'm betting it is.

The title says it all. This movie is 75% soap opera and about 25% action flick.

We were all sorry to see the demise of Black Widow in Avengers: Endgame. So obviously, this movie is a prequel but it is also part origin story.

I really wanted to like this movie and I give superhero movies a lot of leeway. To prove that; I actually liked Daredevil and Green Lantern - 2 movies panned by critics and fans alike. But I'd rank this movie way below those two; it just didn't do it for me.

The focus was mostly on Natasha's family (not just the Avenger's family) and involved a lot of drama.

Lastly, 2 more complaints: no matter how badly beaten up Ms. Romanoff was in a fight, fall or building collapse, she never exhibited more than a slightly bloody nose. And finally - I'm sorry, but you just can't bring in the Elaine Benes character (end of movie) and expect us to take that actress seriously!

Final Verdict: Sappy with some James Bond like action scenes.